Razor



NOV. 10, w T PARKIN I RAZOR Filed June 4, 1935 Irzqenior Patented Nov.10, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RAZOR Application June 4, 1935,Serial No. 24,865

9 Claims. (Cl. 30-46) This invention relates to an improved safety razorof the general type wherein the blade may be reciprocated in a pathparallel to its cutting edge as the razor is moved over the flesh of theuser. Thus a razor of the present type in some respects resembles theform of razor disclosed in King Patent No. 1,890,733. This invention,however, eliminates the previously employed saddle which reciprocated onthe retainer.

To permit this desirable result, an elongate operating bar is arrangedso that it oscillates in the handle of the razor with its upper endengaging the cam portion of a driving roller. The operating bar may havesubstantial diameter and be provided with a substantially circularportion to engage an opening substantially in the center of the blade,thus to impart a reciprocating movement to the blade itself. The lowerend of the operating bar preferably is disposed adjoining the end of therazor handle so that a very small angle of oscillation is imposed uponthe bar by the cam; therefore very little wear results due to therubbing movement of the bar on the edge of the opening in the razorblade. Furthermore, this arrangement permits the provision of a freelyrotatable round operating bar so that in practical use the angularposition of the bar relative to its path of oscillation, i. e., relativeto the path of reciprocation of the razor blade, may change from time totime so that all portions of the part of the bar which engage the bladeare more or less uniformly subjected to wear.

Another important feature of this arrangement is the provision of simplemeans supporting the lower end of the bar for limited pivotal movementso that the bar may readily be removed from the razor for repair orreplacement, if desired. Furthermore, this arrangement permits theconvenient assembly of the razor when the same is manufactured.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a central vertical section on an enlarged scale of a razor inwhich this invention is embodied, the driving roller and operating bar,however, being shown in elevation;

Fig. 2 is a section indicated by line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the support with a part of the retainer shownas swung to its open position;

Figs. 4 and 5 are sections on lines 4--4 and 5-5 respectively of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a bottom view of the handle; and

Fig. 7 is an enlarged plan view of a blade which, may be emp y d in arazor 9? th s typ In the accompanying drawing, which may be regarded asillustrative of the present invention, the numeral I designates agenerally tubular handle which may be connected to a support 2 havingrows of elongate slots 3 separating its intermediate portion fromrail-like guard portions 4. The intermediate part of the support 2 maybe provided with means such as pairs of guide lugs 5 and 6 which arearranged to define and limit the path of movement of the blade and mayalso have small protuberances 1 upon which the blade may rest and slide.

The retainer I is pivotally connected to the support 2 by a hinge II andis provided with a resilient clip l2 which normally holds the retainerin its normal position above the support, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.When the clip 2 is pressed outwardly and upwardly, the retainer may beswung away from the support to the position indicated in Fig. 3 topermit the removal or replacement of the blade. The retainer I0 isprovided with upstanding ears l having openings in which extensions ofthe driving roller I! are journaled, the ends of this roller havingroughened surfaces Hi to engage the flesh of the user of the razor. Theintermediate part of the roller I! is provided with a cam groove 9.

' A razor of this type may be provided with a blade 40, such as is shownmore particularly in Fig. 7, this blade having a central circularopening 4| to receive the operating bar. The blade may also have a pairof similar openings 42, these openings being disposed at opposite sidesof the opening 4| and having generally rectangular inner portions 43 toreceive the lugs 5 and extensions 44 to receive the lugs B, the sides ofthese portions 43 and 44 of the openings 42 being parallel to thecutting edges of the blade so that they may cooperate respectively withthe corresponding ends of the lugs 5 and B in defining the straight-linepath of the blade.

In accordance with this invention, the major portion of tubular handle Imay conveniently have an outer generally hexagonal form, as shown, forexample, in Fig. 5. The upper portion of the handle has a cylindricalbore 20; the lower end thereof, however, has a recess 2| therein ofgenerally hexagonal shape in cross section, as shown in Figs. 4 and 6.Thus where the recess 2| communicates with the bore 20, a shoulder 23 isprovided. A hexagonal plug 21 is shaped to have a tight frictionalengagement with the recess 2| at the lower end of the handle. This plugmay be provided with a central bore 28 which communicates with agenerally conical recess 29 having its larger end at the upper part ofthe plug adjoining the shoulder 23.

A sheet metal spider 30 is normally disposed between the upper end ofthe plug 21 and the shoulder 23, this spider being provided with radialarms that have angular extremities received in the corners at thejunctures of the planar walls of the hexagonal recess 2| and having abody portion with a central circular opening therein.

The operating bar 32 has a ball-like lower end 33 from which acylindrical element 34 of relatively small diameter extends upwardlythrough the opening in the spider 36. A tube 35 forms the body portionof the bar 32 and receives the end of member 34 in interfittingengagement therewith, the lower end of the tube 35 being spaced slightlyfrom the spherical element 33 so that an annular groove is provided inwhich the intermediate part of the spider fits to permit slightoscillatory movement of the bar relative to the spider, the inner wallof this groove being provided by element 34.

The bar 32 is provided with a head 31 having a cylindrical extension 38in tight interfitting engagement with the upper end of tube 35. Thecylindrical head 31 normally extends through the opening 4| in the razorblade, engaging the edge of this opening to impart movement to theblade. Above the blade the head has a conical portion extending to acylindrical extremity 39 (Fig. 2) which is received in the cam groove I9of the driving roller. Preferably the upper portion of this followerelement 39 is somewhat rounded off to facilitate initial engagement ofthe element and groove when the retainer is swung to its normaloperative position.

When a razor of this type is to be used, a blade such as the blade 40 isdisposed on the support with the head 3! extending through the opening4|. The retainer is then swung to its normal position until the clip l2snaps into place. During this movement the follower element 39 isbrought into engagement with the cam groove H3. The razor is then readyfor use.

The movement of the razor over the flesh of the user results in therotation of driving roller ll, which causes the follower element 39 toreciprocate, the element being held against transverse movement relativeto the cutting edges of the blade by the blade itself, which is retainedagainst such a movement by the lugs 5 and 6. As the blade moves from oneend to the other of its path, the head 31 has a slight oscillatorymovement about a center substantially defined by the loose connectionbetween the spider 30 and the lower end of the operating bar. It isevident that the angular movement of the bar is very slight so that thewear imposed upon the head 38 by the edge of the opening 4| of the bladeis relatively small. Obviously at the lower end of the bar where it isconnected with the spider 30 a very minute movement occurs and thetendency to wear is very slight. Since all portions of the bar arecircular and freely rotatably, it may be rotated from time to time asblades are removed from the support or disposed thereon so thatdifferent portions of the bar and particularly of the head 3'! aredisposed in positions to receive the wear resulting from the swinging ofthe bar in a single plane. It is thus evident that while the bar isround and is supported so that it may oscillate in any direction, it isrestrained to oscillate in one plane by the guiding means for the bladeitself. It is apparent that the concial recess 29 merely provides aloose casing out of contact with the ball element 33 during the normaloperation of the razor.

When it is desired to remove the bar from the handle, the retainer I0may be swung to its inoperative position and the top of the bar presseddownwardly so that it is effective through the spider 30 in pushing plug21 out of recess 2|, whereupon the bar and spider will drop out of thehandle. When it is desired to reassemble these parts, the head 3'! ofthe bar is inserted in the bore 20 of the handle and the bar is pushedupwardly until the arms of the spider engage the shoulder 23. The plug2'! is then inserted in the recess 2| to retain the spider in place.

It is evident that the present invention affords a simple, durable andreadily assembled or disassembled mechanism to permit a driving rollerto cause the reciprocation of a razor blade.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purposeof illustration only and that this invention includes all modificationsand equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A razor of the class described comprising a hollow handle, a supportsecured to one end of the handle, a retainer movably connected to thesupport, a driving roller rotatably mounted on the retainer, said rollerhaving a cam portion,

an oscillatory operating bar having a lower end I received in the lowerend of the handle and having an element at its upper end engaging thecam portion of the roller and providing a follower therefor, said barhaving a substantially cylindrical portion to engage an opening in ablade, and means upon the support to engage the blade and restrain thesame so that it follows a linear path in response to oscillation of thefollower element by the cam portion of the roller.

2. A razor of the class described comprising a hollow handle, a supportsecured to one end of the handle, a retainer movably connected to thesupport, a driving roller rotatably mounted on the retainer, said rollerhaving a cam por-- tion, an oscillatory operating bar having a lower endreceived in the lower end of the handle and having an element at itsupper end engaging the cam portion of the roller and providing afollower therefor, said bar having a cylindrical portion to engage anopening in a blade, means upon the support to engage the blade andrestrain the same so that it follows a linear path in response tooscillation of the follower element by the cam portion of the roller, asheet metal element in the lower part of the handle, said element havinga central opening therein, and an annular groove in the bar looselyengaging the sheet metal element in the region of said opening so thatthe bar may have an oscillatory movement relative thereto.

3. A razor of the class described comprising a hollow handle, a supportsecured to one end of the handle, a retainer movably connected to thesupport, a driving roller rotatably mounted on the retainer, said rollerhaving a cam portion, an oscillatory operating bar having a lower endreceived in the lower end of the handle and having an element at itsupper end engaging the cam portion of the roller and providing afollower therefor, said bar having a cylindrical portion to engage anopening in a blade, means upon the support to engage the blade andrestrain the same so that it follows a linear path in response tooscillation of the follower element by the cam portion of the roller, asheet metal element in the lower part of the handle, said element havinga central opening therein, an annular groove in the bar loosely engagingthe sheet metal element in the region of said opening so that the barmay have an oscillatory movement relative thereto, and a plug receivedin the lower end of the handle and holding the sheet metal memberagainst a shoulder inside of the handle.

4. A razor of the class described comprising a hollow handle, a supportsecured to one end of the handle, a retainer movably connected to thesupport, a driving roller rotatably mounted on the retainer, said rollerhaving a cam portion, an oscillatory operating bar having a lengthsubstantially equal to the length of the handle and having its lower endreceived in the lower end of the handle, said bar having an element atits upper end engaging the cam portion of the roller and providing afollower therefor, said bar also having a portion to engage an openingin a blade, means upon the support to engage the blade and restrain thesame so that it follows a linear path in response to oscillation of thefollower element by the cam portion of the roller.

5. A razor of the class described comprising a hollow handle, a supportsecured to one end of the handle, a retainer movably connected to thesupport, a blade normally held between the retainer and support, adriving roller rotatably mounted on the retainer, said roller having acam portion, an operating bar having a length substantially equal to thelength of the handle and having its lower end received in the handle,said bar having a follower element at its upper end engaging the camportion of the roller, said blade having openings engaging lugs on thesupport so that the blade is restrained to move in a linear path, saidblade also having a central round opening, said bar having a roundportion extending through and engaging said opening so that the barimparts a linear movement to the blade in response to oscillation of thefollower element by the cam portion of the roller.

6. A razor of the class described comprising a hollow handle, a supportsecured to one end of the handle, a retainer movably connected to thesupport, a blade normally held between the retainer and support, adriving roller rotatabl mounted on the retainer, said roller having acam portion, an operating bar having a lower end received in the handleand having a round follower element at its upper end engaging the camportion of the roller, said blade having openings engaging lugs on thesupport so that the blade is restrained to move in a linear path, saidblade also having a central round opening, said bar having a roundportion extending through and engaging said opening so that the barimparts a linear movement to the blade in response to oscillation of thefollower element by the cam portion of the roller, means supporting thelower end of the bar in the handle, said means being arranged so thatthe bar is freely rotatable about its own longitudinal axis so thatdifferent parts of the round portion of the bar engaging the blade maybe subjected to wear when imparting a reciprocatory movement to theblade.

'7. A razor of the class described comprising a hollow handle, a bladesupport secured to the upper end of the handle, a retainer movablyconnected to the support, a blade normally held between the retainer andsupport, the blade and support having interfitting portions restrainingthe blade so that it may move in a straight line path, a driving rollerrotatably mounted on the retainer, said roller having a cam portion, anoperating bar having a lower end positioned in the lower end of thehandle, and means supporting the lower end of said bar in the handle sothat the bar may have a slight oscillatory movement within the handle,an element at the upper end of the bar providing a follower engaging thecam portion of the roller, a portion of the bar engaging an opening inthe blade so that movement of the follower element by the roller iseffective in causing the movement of the blade and the oscillation ofthe bar in a central plane, the bar having a length of the order of thelength of the handle so that the angle of oscillatory movement is smalland so that very slight movement occurs between the blade and theportion of the bar engaging the same.

8. A razor of the class described comprising a blade holder, a drivingroller rotatably mounted on the holder and providing a cam portion, ablade supported by the holder and restrained thereby to move in astraight line path, a hollow handle connected to the holder, anoperating bar having a length substantially as great as that of thehandle and having a portion engaging an opening in the blade, said barhaving an end movably mounted in the lower part of the handle and alsohaving a follower element engaging the cam portion of the drivingroller.

9. A razor of the class described comprising a hollow handle, a supportsecured to one end of the handle, a retainer movably connected to thesupport, a blade between the retainer and support, parts of the supportand blade being in sliding interfitting engagement so that the blade isrestrained to follow a straight line path, a driving roller rotatablymounted on the retainer, said roller having a cam portion, anoscillatory operating bar having a lower end received in the lower endof the handle and having an element at its upper end engaging the camportion of the roller and providing a follower therefor, said bar havinga round portion engaging a round opening in a blade, and means in thehandle to support the bar and permit its oscillation and permit itsrotation about its own axis.

WINFRED T. PARKIN.

